UK soft-drink company A.G. Barr Plc, maker of Irn-Bru and Tizer, expects a 5-per-cent decline in first-half sales because of price-cutting and poor weather in Scotland and the north of England.
Trading in the six months to 25 July has remained “subdued, as anticipated”, the company said in a recent statement, pushing its shares down 9 pence to 624 pence in London.
A.G. Barr, based in Cumbernauld, Scotland, also suffered by comparison, with a strong sales performance in the same period last year. It expects first-half sales of £128 million ($198 million) for 2015.
The company said that trading in the second half of the year “will remain competitive”, but it should meet its full-year targets as long as “there are no significant changes to the competitive or customer landscape, and that we continue to make good progress on all our change initiatives”.
In the past six months, A.G. Barr has closed a site, commissioned a new packaging plant and bought a cocktail company. It also overhauled its business processes, which caused customer-service problems and held back revenue.
News by Bloomberg, edited by ESM
